For nearly 20 years, a bearded Scotsman has stood tall above the sidewalk next to Fergus’s Breadalbane Inn, rooted to the boulevard along St. Andrew Street. But the township says he has to go – and soon.
Nailed to the Scotsman’s wooden shield is a notice from the Township of Centre Wellington: “Tree removal planned,” it reads in all caps. It lists August 2025 as the date for removal.
“The carving in front of the Breadalbane has been scheduled for removal for some time due to the ongoing deterioration of the tree stump,” township manager of communications Kendra Martin said in an email. “Unfortunately, the structure is no longer stable and poses a safety concern.”
Martin said she couldn’t provide any history on the Scotsman or the artist who created him, but Andreas Eggers, who took over the Breadalbane business from his father Peter Eggers, was able to provide a little background.
“We organized it as a fundraiser for the old Groves hospital,” the younger Eggers told EloraFergusToday.
He couldn’t remember the specifics of the fundraiser, but said people donated to sponsor the sculpture, which was created by artists who more or less volunteered their time to carve the piece from the trunk of a dead tree. Those who donated a minimum amount had their names carved on the back of the sculpture.
“It’s a sad thing that it has to be removed, but it obviously isn’t in the best condition anymore,” he said.
“We always did stain it and try our best to take care of it,” Andreas said, but the carving has deteriorated.
The figure lost its sword years ago, and the upper part of its head seems to have rotted away. There is a gaping hole where his shoulder should be, and greenery sprouts from cracks and obscures significant portions of the carving.
The Scottish warrior was carved in 2006 by Sean Kosonic and his father Nick, with the elder man wielding the chainsaw and the younger man carving the details.
The idea for the project came from Nick, whose partner was the manager of the Breadalbane at the time, and the design was inspired by the tree that provided the raw materials.
“He just saw the figure. It had a big branch on the one side that looked like it could be a figure standing with a sword,” Sean said.
The Scottish heritage of the town also provided inspiration, and community members contributed insights and research into the warrior’s costume.
“All the little details came from the townfolk for the most part,” said Sean.
The work was titled Blairgowrie Ferguson, named for Blairgowrie, Scotland, Fergus’s twin town abroad.
The name was chosen through a competition, and the winner received a cast bronze statuette of the figure, Sean said.
Andreas believes there may have been more than one of those replica sculptures, but he couldn’t say for sure.
He said he would be interested in trying to get the carving replaced, if there were any funding to do so.
“He’s kind of a unique figure and he’s been there for some time now,” said Andreas.
He said the township had planned to take the warrior down previously, nailing a notice on the figure more than a year ago, but after the pending removal was covered by local media, the notice disappeared and the warrior remained without explanation.
“We had set to remove it a while ago,” Martin said in an email. “But as you know, things get busy and staff are very busy, so this is the soonest we have had an opportunity to remove it.”
The township currently has no budget for a replacement piece of artwork, Martin said.
She could not provide a concrete date of when the carving would be removed.
“It will be done over the next few weeks,” she said.
With files from Isabel Buckmaster